A Stronger Loving World -- Revised
by Davies
Summary: The invincible man and the smartest man in the world have a different final conversation. AU, no relation to Doomsday Clock or the HBO series.


_The ending of_ Watchmen_ \- the graphic novel, as distinguished from the motion picture or ongoing television series - sucked. With the exception of Rorschach's fate, almost every detail was a betrayal of the narrative presented in the previous eleven and a half issues in the name of exalting the passivity of one character, and the megalomania of another. What follows is my entirely ego-driven attempt to improve upon that ending._

He had done what needed to be done, and without further consideration turned his back on the deed and walked through the wall of Adrian's fortress, passing by the television sets which were describing the brave new world born from the day's events. The elaborations on what he had heard earlier were of no real interest to him, as his foreknowledge confirmed that their speculation was, in the main, correct - that it would be, for a time, a stronger, more loving world. He considered this desirable, and was reminded why as he caught sight of a pair of naked bodies resting against each other in a way that distantly reminded him of a pair of spoons, on the ledge beside a pool.

For the first time in quite some time - Had it been when he had his last conversation with a man now dead? The tachyons were hampering his retrospective knowledge just as they had hampered his foreknowledge before. - his lips curled in what might have been a smile, were he still human.

Now that his foreknowledge on this subject was confirmed, he turned away from Laurie and Dreiberg and walked across the surface of the pool, then up through the ceiling to where Adrien sat atop an incomplete pyramid and contemplated an astrolabe.

"Hello, Jon," said Adrien. "I was hoping that we'd have the chance to talk."

It was somewhat frustrating that Adrien continued to use the dead name after the other man had been told that he was no longer Osterman, but he decided not to interrupt the so-called genius' argument. It seemed polite, considering what would come afterwards.

"Jon, I _know_ people think me callous, but I've made myself feel every death," Adrien claimed. "By day I imagine endless _faces_. By night ... well, I _dream_, about swimming towards a hideous ... no, never mind. It isn't significant ... what's significant is that I _know_. I _know_ that I've struggled across the backs of murdered innocents to save humanity ... but _someone_ had to take the weight of that awful, necessary crime. I'd hoped you'd understand, unlike _Rorschach_." He said the masked man's name with such contempt.

"You needn't consider Rorschach," he told Adrien. "He will not reach civilization. Because I killed him."

Adrien began to nod, then stopped the motion, blinking. "What?"

"I killed him," he repeated.

"Oh," Adrien said. The 'smartest man in the world' seemed surprised by this development. "I was expecting you to claim that he'd be unable to reach civilization."

"No, that is untrue," he said. "Rorschach's determination and anger at your actions would likely have ensured that he would succeed in reaching the American base at Fort McMurdo. Also, I believe that you were actually somewhat concerned about that possibility, hence the rather tasteless jokes you made in Laurie and Dreiberg's hearing, earlier, to minimize your appearance of concern.

"Regardless," he continued, "I believed that killing him was the best way to ensure that your plan is given the opportunity to succeed for a time."

"Well!" said Adrien, smiling then. "That's very _good_ of you, Jon. I'm glad to see that you've regained interest in _human l-_ what do you mean, for a time?"

"I don't believe that I ever actually lost any interest in human life, Adrien," he answered the first part of the man's statement. "For a relatively brief interval, your plan increased the level of frustration I have felt with _most_ of the human race, and I withdrew to consider matters and recover a necessary emotional equilibrium.

"Once this was done, I realized that I still _did_ feel a continuing attachment to Laurie, and decided to rescue her from what I believed, again because of your plan, was the beginning of a nuclear conflict. Our conversation involved a _number_ of topics, and I came to the realization that Laurie did not wish to remain with me, having developed feelings for Dreiberg, and in any event could not live a meaningful life with me.

"So we returned to Earth, and discovered the truth of your plan. Thanks to Laurie's conversation, I realized that it was the _best option_ to ensure that she would have a longer, happier life here on Earth. I value _her_ human life, Adrien. I think it is important that you understand this."

Adrien was staring at him, having made a number of false starts at interrupting. When at last he fell silent, Adrien waited a moment, then spoke up. "What did she _say_ to you to make you come to this understanding, Jon?"

"It is, as you said, not significant, Adrien. This knowledge would not help you to understand _me_, and you have never had _any_ interest in understanding those you view as beneath you."

"You are being very unfair, Jon. I have - as I said, I do _understand_ the nature of what I did, and -"

"No, Adrien," he interrupted. "You have _looked_ at the nature of what you did through the medium of _television_ You have not experienced the deaths you claim to understand." He paused, since now was a good time to pause, and then continued before Adrien spoke. "If it were not for the fact that this will help Laurie to live a longer, happier life, then I would not have -" He broke off then.

"All right, all right," Adrien imagined himself as interrupting. "You value your girlfriend. I think that's nonsensical, but it really doesn't matter. Thank you, Jon, for choosing to act to ensure that my plan will succeed, and for choosing it over Rorschach's life." He smiled. "One more body among the foundation hardly matters."

"Indeed, that is what Rorschach himself said. You and he were more similar than you realize," he told the man.

Adrien's jaw dropped. _Jon!_" he yelled. "You - how can you possibly _compare_ me to that disgusting, infantile nihilist!"

"I would greatly prefer it if you did not call me Jon, Adrien," he finally revealed. "As I indicated earlier, the name no longer describes me. And we are no longer friends, and I do not desire your intimacy. If you wish me to call me the name Ozymandius, I will do so."

"Call me whatever you like," Adrien said, a bit dazedly.

"Very well. You need, I think, to understand that Rorschach was _not_ a nihilist, Adrien. He was idealist who was _exactly opposite_ to you. Where you decided that the result of nuclear annihilation was worth any sacrifice needed to _prevent_ it, he decided that the results of your plan were worth any sacrifice needed to _avenge_ it. A genuine nihilist would have shrugged the deaths off in the belief that they were no more or less deserved than any other inevitable death. When it happened, he would have looked down at those screaming for help, and told them no.

"Nor," he continued, "was Blake a nihilist, despite the conclusion you reached at your second meeting. I do not think he had a coherent philosophy, beyond self-satisfaction. But if he had truly been indifferent to human life and suffering _in general_, beyond what he needed or chose to accomplish, he would not have hesitated to contact the authorities about what he discovered on your island, regardless of the consequences. You counted on the fact that he would not do so, when you murdered him."

"He was a murderer himself!" Adrien protested. "Many times over!"

"True. I personally witnessed this," he agreed. "But in the process, he demonstrated to me that, as you would also argue, my presence on Earth was damaging to humanity. Your species no longer tried to resolve your differences through negotiation, but rather the use of force, counting on my presence to rescue you from your folly. In a very real way, you are the _ultimate example_ of this, Adrien. It is for that reason that I believe the time has come for me to leave, and will do so very shortly."

"So after all this, you're just leaving," said Adrien, almost trembling. His legs slipped out of the lotus position, and he slid down the side of the pyramid. "Where are you going to go, J- where are you going?"

"A simpler galaxy than this, I think," he answered, resting the fingers of one hand against his chin. "I don't think there is any point in being more specific. You will not be able to follow me."

"Fine," said Adrien. "Fine! Go. Go with my blessing. If you ever look back, Doctor Manhattan, you _will_ see that I was right, in the end."

"Nothing _ever_ ends, Adrien," he told him, once more smiling in, yes, rather cruel amusement at this man's naivete. Well, he too was more callous than he would readily admit. "As I told you before, you are not something special and unique. You are just a man. For a time, you will live, and you will take those actions which suit you. And then you will be gone. That is all." He paused, then added, for it was time to add, "And I do not care for that name, either."

"... just go," Adrien repeated, obviously disgusted.

"I will do so in a moment," he told Adrien. "But first, there is one more thing to make clear. As I said, Laurie is a human life that I value. Dreiberg is a life that _she_ values. I know that you do not intend to cause either of them any harm, but you might use those tachyons again to confuse matters. I would advise you against doing so. You do not like my response."

He examined the astrolabe, nodded once, then said, "Goodbye, Adrien." A last politeness, for one for one he'd somewhat esteemed.

And then he was gone.


End file.
